Give it Time
by timelucked
Summary: Inuyasha's done it again. He's upset Kagome and she seeks solace in Miroku. He comforts her but when Inuyasha confronts her about her 'injury', and the two wind up in the forest - does he get repentance, or a slap to the face? NOT MirKag slash. At all.
1. Chapter 1

"So," blue robes sighed and a deep groan filled the air. "What has he done _this_ time?"

Kagome tilted her head to view a simple monk, in the plain clothes of his calling – made dimmer by the late hour of the night. She scrubbed at her red eyes with her sleeve, blotching the fabric with the tears she had earlier sworn not to shed. A sniffle. "What, what do you mean? Has something happened?"

The monk grunted in mockery of a laugh, a soft snort. "I imagine so, but it seems you are hesitant to tell me," he smiled kind eyes at her. "Come on, Kagome – it's me. I'm a lot of things, and you know that reliable is one of them."

"Well aren't you Mr. Cocky." She sniveled snidely, turning her face away and scooting down the hill a few hops.

He smirked dangerously, a borderline of flirtatiousness but he had learned better than that from the last time. "I've been dubbed that on many occasions, yes." His smile deepened, curving at the corners, as she blew air from her lips in aggravation.

Toffee eyes rolled within their sockets, face screwing up at his disgusting and depraved behavior. "You're despicable!" she cried out.

The night air chilled, stars shining brightly overhead as a light breeze swept through the grasses, brushing aside each forest-green blade with gentle fingers. Kagome bristled, rubbing her forearms as the monk stared off into the dark forest just beyond the crest of the smaller, adjoining hill. His smile faded, eyes dimming to something somber.

"And you're worse for not telling me what's wrong."

"What do you think is wrong!" she buried her face in her hands, twisting her head about as if she could simply shake the trembling tears away. "Inuyasha, of course. He's…he's just so-!" her words trailed off in a choked sob, quieting her as she inwardly glared at the dots lighting her vision the tighter she squeezed her eyes shut.

A warm hand patted her back, rubbing soothing circles in her right shoulder. His fingers kneaded the tension out of her worked muscles and she felt herself relaxing against her stubborn will. She wanted to order him stop, but the sensation of it felt too good, albeit foreign.

"You're like my mother," she grumbled, craning her neck up with the shadow of a smile, eyes still haunted by another's actions.

Miroku softly chuckled, hand sliding back to his own lap. "Really – you're going to allow me to massage away your worries at the expense of my laziness and then insult me by calling me a woman? That doesn't seem very nice."

She gently slapped his arm, hand scrunching his bicep affectionately. She gave a small laugh at the face he made, amused and curious, a wry smile upon his lips as his brow quirked playfully at her.

"Alright, fine. You're like my brother,"

Her face faltered thinking about Souta. Her younger sibling wouldn't have the capability of being sweet to her, not like this. She wouldn't be able to go to a young boy and talk about her boy troubles, besides, she would never want to subject a kid to her problems – especially her brother. At the finish of her tales, he would probably ask to go watch some anime that was on at the time. But Miroku, he listened, he talked, he was there when no one else was. He even joked with her, though most of what he spoke of was much too mature even for Kagome to hear, but still, it made her feel older, more comfortable around the perverted monk. His laughter was always kind and goodhearted, unlike most of the other men in this era – with their jeers and snerks. Her thoughts strayed to Inuyasha, his face always curled in anger or annoyance, and she steeled herself against the next image she had of him. She ducked her face into her folded arms.

"Hey," the monk caught her attention by tipping his head to rest atop hers in a brotherly fashion, one out of sentiment and with no sense of an ulterior motive in play. "If I had you for a sister, lady Kagome, I would be the proudest big brother."

Kagome's brown eyes watered at that. No one had ever said they were proud of her; her mother once a lifetime ago, she could hardly remember her father, Souta was a dumb boy who didn't know the meaning of complimenting – Gramps was in the same boat, too, occupied with his spiritual tasks. And Inuyasha? Forget about it. Sango was her friend, but they hardly ever complemented each other, Shippo was too young, and Kirara only mewed. It had been a long time since she had heard those words over the sound of berating and scolding.

Miroku straightened, sighing as he did so. He stood in the same way as he had come, in a rustle of robes – patting his legs out, dusts wafting in little clouds; he turned to walk away with a meaningful parting, words of wisdom uncharacteristically leaving his dirty mouth.

"Listen. Give it a little time. Guys like Inuyasha…they're like sake, better with age," he winked and turned back to trod back into camp, his geta making blocky indents in the soft pasture. "Just a little time, Kagome, that's _all_ he needs. I – uu-whoa!" Miroku skidded on his sandaled feet, body jolting as he wasn't properly braced for attack.

Kagome had run up and hugged him so strongly, he was only able to gape, staring at the clasped arms around his chest. His body sagged from its rigid posture as he smiled gently, hitting her gripped hands lightly. She relinquished her grasp and he stepped back up the hill, his shakujou tinkering with each pace.

The campfire greeted Miroku warmly, flickering in its pit. His lips puckered as he watched Inuyasha, chomping noisily on one of the food items Lady Kagome had brought with her from her realm while bashing the small kitsune on his head for trying to cutely snag a piece of 'fake-octopus' from his bento. The fox-demon griped, pawing at his throbbing forehead where a large lump was steadily springing up. The hanyou dismissed the sad creature and turned haughtily away, guiltless as usual. Miroku breathed heavily, plopping down to pick up his discarded and mystically-made '_ramen_'

"Ow." He winced, feeling a tugging on his ear, forcing his head low.

"What was wrong with Kagome, houshi-sama?" he heard Sango ask of him, the strain on his ear dissipating as she released his earring. "She seemed," her hands billowed the air before her, dropping back uselessly to her bent knees. "Sad."

The monk hmmed deep in his throat, eyes closed and head bobbing sagely. Expectant eyes leaned down, head dipping, as she tried to look into his eyes, turned sapphire in the night. He shifted his head slightly to stare coolly back at her. The taijiya's face showed concern, furrowing at odd corners, as the monk was playing a far too somber card. Sango lifted herself up to stare past him where beyond Kagome sat, hidden by the crest of the hill.

"Summ'n wro'g wit' Kag'me?" Inuyasha managed past his munches and gnashing fangs.

Miroku glared petulantly, a slight narrowing of his eyes at his half-demon ally who merely pouted indifferently. His shoulders sagged in imitation of defeat, not knowing exactly how he was bested.

"Yeah, something."

Inuyasha's brows met one another slowly, feral eyes darkening to a liquid gold as if heated to a boil.

"She hurt?" he gruffly growled, upper lip curling into a snarl.

Miroku's face hardened, blood boiling within himself as well, although for another reason entirely. Could he _really _be this dense? Sango couldn't help feel the slight nip of jealousy at witnessing the lecherous man she loved acting this way over another woman, but thinking on the relationship he shared with Kagome, the bite subsided and concern overwhelmed her in its stead.

The monk turned his face away, glowering off into the shadows, breath heavy. "You could say that."

In a flash of crimson, the hanyou blazed right over the fire and wrenched the monk up by the collar of his rich robes. His head lolled back passionlessly as Inuyasha's anger flared, igniting with an unknowing fear.

"What happened – what did you do to her?" he shouted at the monk.

Miroku opened his mouth to speak, glaring back just as evenly, the same fiery intensity in both violet and amber pools, but it was another who voiced her opposition.

"Take a look in the river, _Inuyasha_, Miroku's _not_ the one who hurt Kagome!" Sango yelled.

Shippo cowered for cover within the walls of a crumbling and decaying log, shivering against the apprehensive state in the air, frothing with the negative emotions that swirled around the party. He yanked his fluffy tail up and covered his eyes with it.

Inuyasha let Miroku dangle limp in his hold, staring hard, questioning eyes at her, trying his damndest to retain his vice on his untamable anger. "Wh-what…what do you mean?"

She groaned, letting her hands to flop loudly at her sides. "You dense, idiotic, good-for-nothing – ugh! – _demon_! It's _your_ fault Kagome's upset, all _yours_!"

"What, bu…but what did I…what did I do?" he dropped the monk from his talons, placing his clawed fingers to his lip, eyes rolled up in thought as a single brow furrowed over one eye. Nothing came to mind, and he said as much. "I got nothin'."

Irately grabbed hold of her hips, gracing him with a _very_ cross look. "Oh, really, because I can think of a few things that _might _have tipped the scales."

"Feh, whatever," he waved her off, shooting off on the balls of his feet. "I don't need you when I can go straight to the source."

"Inuyasha, no – wait!" Miroku's hand shot out futilely, missing the red robes by a fraction of an inch, falling flat on his chest.

"Don't worry, Miroku, I won't hurt her!" the hot-headed man called back.

Miroku frowned. "It's you I'm worried about, Inuyasha…"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After Miroku left, the buzz of relief fled with him. It was like a cloak being yanked off her, leaving her in the cold of winter. Or her own thoughts. She sighed wistfully.

_Inuyasha…_ As if summoned by her thoughts, she heard the tromp of bare feet on the silky grass behind her.

"I hear you're wounded," she heard his gruff voice call out, softer than usual. Until she heard the scoff. Yeah, she knew it was too good to be true. "So, what in the hells is wrong with you?"

Anger swelled within her, a swirling steam that ignited every fiber in her being, shaking her to the bone in pure fury. Her brain was wiped out in a sudden red haze, face contorting into something Inuyasha thought was close to demonic. Her head swiveled, causing the hanyou to jump and make an odd sort of retreating noise, arms covering his face in his sharp reflexes. She reset her head to the way it was, lifelessly staring out at the pitch scenery around her, sightless eyes trained to the bulk of trees beyond.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong." She answered curtly, emotionlessly.

For all the world, she could have been dead. Inuyasha grimaced as he thought of another woman who walked the earth dead, a dark shadow passed over his face, encompassing him in complete darkness. Shoving the feelings aside, per usual, he shot back with equal venom and an additional harshness to his words – compensation for having dangerous thoughts.

"Whatever, I'm out. If you're not wounded, wha' do I care?" He stormed off back up the hill.

"You. Are. In_sufferable_!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, banging her heels into the dirt furiously, hands beneath her knees. "Just because you can't _see_ a wound, doesn't mean it's not there!"

And suddenly a sharply upturned nose appeared right before her face, causing her to stumble back in shock and letting out a similar noise to what he made earlier. Inuyasha sniffed around her face, then her shoulder, a casual and flippant snuffle around her midsection, then pulled back, frowning.

"I don't smell nothin' either." He made to leave, but that only seemed to incur the wrath of a certain miko.

Suddenly, Inuyasha felt his head knocked back and hit the ground with as hard a force as if he had been commanded to sit. He gurgled, flinching on impact and then he felt gravity kicking in as the son of a bitch science started rolling him down the hill. He heard screams and grunts all the way down that didn't belong to him. Oh, no. They belonged to the girl who had wrestled him to the ground with a ferocious tackle and – even as they spiraled to the bottom of the second hill, gaining more and more speed and velocity – who continued to pelt his chest with frenzied fists and punches, futile curses to inflict pain on him emotionally as well. Inuyasha growled as his back met the biting bark of a tree. The two had made it all the way to the forest, the place damper, darker, and cooler than any place else. It reeked of demons and wild game, scat from other animals and life forms.

"Kagome," he berated in an angry whine. "You idiot, now look! This is all your fault! Stupid women."

"Stupid women – stupid _women_! Stupid men!" she fumed, outraged and aghast.

Rearing up to start up her punches once more she noticed a slight tinge to Inuyasha's cheeks – eyes wide and blinking, mouth parted ever so slightly – and realized that the way the two were, she ended up straddling his hips with hers. Clearing her mind of those thoughts – too much time with Miroku, she inwardly growled to herself – she glared down at him, fist raised. Inuyasha winced like a kicked cur, shielding his eyes with his fists until he it dawned on him that his strength was tenfold of what hers was – a hundredfold! Smirking evilly, he jabbed his hand out with lightning fast ability, clenched her wrist in his hand and turned the tables. He wrenched her off him, bucking his hips as she let out a soft 'Oh!' to swing her off him. Her thigh clamped tight around him, determination etched in every line of her feature, and she didn't fly off as intended.

"Get…off…me…wench!" the hanyou roared, wiggling his body in every attempt to get away from this enraged witch. He would never resort to outright violence, but man she was pushing it.

"Shut up!" she cried, and for once, he did – astounded by the fact that her voice was thick with the brimming of tears and that she had told him to shut his trap. She had never said that, not in so many words. His jaw snapped closed as her wrists sank down atop his chest, head sagged. "You're such an idiot, Inuyasha…I hate you."

Her remark was met with silence, a drowning pool of it, dense and thick like fogs. Or tears. A cricket chirped, hidden in a den of dried leaves and grass.

"You, you…_hate_ me?"

Kagome nearly choked on another sob, hearing the soft pain in his voice. He shifted beneath her warily, and this time she allowed him room to go. He only sat up and sifted back, ocher eyes boring into hers, concealed behind a curtain of bangs. The half-demon sat lotus style in utter silence, a deep, impenetrable wall of quiet. Kagome was at a loss for what to say. She knew what she said was out of hurt and heartbreak, that it wasn't the truth. She could tell him that, but her pride – always her damn pride, pride from the both of them always separated the two. And being reminded of the fact only sealed her lips tighter, pressed into a taut line. She kept to her mute charade.

"Wow," he propelled the air from his lungs out his mouth in a motorboat of sound. "I've heard that one a lot."

Kagome turned her body further away, seated on her knees, head downcast just as she was downtrodden. The crickets chirped in harmony. A wind rustled by, and she shivered as leaves chimed creakily. Her only thought to his comment was, _Yeah, can't imagine why._

"But you know," her ears picked up the faint sigh as he ran a hand through his silvery mane. She quickly glanced at him and saw him, one knee bent, an arm laying atop it lazily, as he gazed out into the night far too pensively than she was used to. "I never thought I'd hear you say that."

Her hand shot up to cover her mouth before the gasp could be twisted from her throat. Liquid remorse began to brim along the lip of her eye, catching on her eyelash just before they could fall, collecting in a puddle around her eyes, unwilling to descend to the grass forever forgotten.

"Guess I shoulda expected it sometime though, huh? I mean, everyone else has said it – what makes you any different?"

_The fact that I care about you, more than life itself? Because I don't really hate you?_ She went with the latter of her thoughts.

"I…no, not really, Inuyasha. I don't hate you. I don't hate you at all. It's just," her voice was soft, yielding – hesitant. "You can make things so…hard. And difficult."

"Then why don't you go back to your own world."

Her head shot up to look at his, but his eyes were covered and shaded by jagged white bangs, like thick fangs jutting from his head. On her vulnerable face, was all the hurt in the world, encompassed in a torrent of visible throes of expressions.

"Wh-wh…what?" her voice, breathless in the crushing weight of anticipation and the complete disregard he seemed to have for her.

"If I make things so hard for you," his tone was as harsh as his words, cruel and bitter. "Why don't you just leave and never come back. Go back down your stupid well and go prance around your fancy, untroubled world."

Hatred seethed within her, Kagome inhaled sharply, lips forming a _very_ thin line. "Well _excuse me_ for trying to _help_ you on your quest!"

"It's your fault I even have this 'quest'!" he interjected and was promptly ignored, his anger subdued by her own. What Kagome lacked in physical power, she made up for in verbal assault, barraging him with words as volatile as a modern era bomb.

"And you know, maybe I should go back to my time – I was never meant for this world anyway! I could just go back to _my_ era and never see this place again! I could live a happy life, go through high school, then college, find a job, marry a nice guy, have a _wonderful_ family!"

Inuyasha had been lost at 'high school' but when the first words spewed from her lips; he was stricken with the horror and fear that she may actually heed his words. He tried to ignore the rapid beating of his heart, tried to ignore the pangs that shot through him for reasons he himself had no clue as to their meaning. He beat his chest, unnoticed by her, with a fist and bent his head in the opposite direction, away from her and her rant.

"But you wanna know something, Inuyasha," at his name he rolled his head back around to look at her, eyes guarded with the cage of irritation. Her eyes focused themselves on her hands, limp and upturned in her lap. "Through all the hardship you put me through, my most precious moments…are here, in the feudal era," he scoffed inaudibly, head moving to glower away from her again, until he heard her next words, freezing him solid to his rooted position. "With you."

Tiny sounds broke free from his lips, head jerking back to stare wide tawny eyes at her. Her head lifted and as amber met chocolate, a discourse of acceptance was silently enacted. He cleared his throat, face blank – devoid of any reaction. Suddenly, though, he became aloof and, tilting his head up, stared down the line of his nose at her, eyes like slits.

"Hmph. That so?"

She quelled the anger incited by his simple response, mentally patting and placating the swell and cresting emotion. "Well, everyone else too. I love everyone here. Shippo, Sango, Kirara – Miroku." Inuyasha's nose twitched at the mention of the trickster monk, a flash of something passing over his face.

_Was, was that…envy?_ Kagome's head angled to one side, hair flipping out with her.

"Hn. Well, you seem to be cozy with that monk."

Outrage! "What do you mean by that exactly, _Inu_yasha?" she shouted back at him. _The _nerve_ of this guy!_

He sniveled, reeling his head to the side snidely. "I'm just sayin', you two are awfully close is all. I mean, you spend a lot of time together, walk around the villages we pass through under the moon – who does that? You two, I guess."

Her eyes narrowed around the edges, a crease formed between her brows and her mouth was hardened and slightly ajar. Then her face pulled back, stretched in shocked realization. "Oh my go—Inuyasha, are you _jealous_ of Miroku?"

The man blanched at the accusation. "What? Of _that_ creep? Why would I be – I, I – I got no reason to be! Nope, none whatsoever." He shook his head vehemently, but she could see, beneath the moon's relentless gaze and the stars tireless flicker, there was a layer of red dusting his angular features.

"…I can't believe it," her voice held the note of incredulity, head cocked and staring off into space. "You're jealous of Miroku – _Miroku_!" the memory from that night of the two saying how he was like her sibling relayed in her mind and made her laugh. "Of all the people, him? I mean, I guess that makes sense – but, hahaha, it really doesn't."

"'Of all the people', geez Kagome, how many more are there?" his voice was more sarcastic than harsh.

She answered him by counting the men off on her fingers. "Well, there's Koga," he growled at the name, snarling viciously and animalistic as if the wolf-youkai were actually in his presence. "That one guy in that village – the one we stopped in a few days ago," Inuyasha sniffed in mute anger at that one, not a pleasant memory for him as he had made an utter fool of himself in that town. "There's Hojo – er, two of them," the hanyou's eyes bugged in horrified shock at that statement, before Kagome quickly explained herself, trying to hide her blush behind her furiously waving hands. "The one from this era – Akitoki – and his descendant, my classmate!" she laughed awkwardly, gulping towards the last, dying chuckle. "Ginta and Hakaku have both shown interest, but with Koga around – and as his subservient best friends – they would never betray him like that. Oh! And then that one—"A clawed forefinger placed itself upon her lips.

"Stop," her eyes followed the line of that finger, trailing up the muscled arm hidden within the casing of plumed fire-rat fabric, around the curve of shoulder, ascending the line of his neck, tracing the sweep of his jaw, and finally to his mouth as it uttered the simple command. "Seriously – no more."

She nodded in hushed silence and his finger soon slipped from her lips. A breeze tugged at her thin school uniform and she shivered at the contact the probing fingers of nature searched her under. She closed her eyes and gave a shaky breath against the frosty weather.

"Here," warmth wrapped her in a snug embrace, as if the heat of a fire encompassed her. "Don't want my Jewel Detector dying from a cold on me."

"What are you…talking about?" and then she understood that the fire's warmth, the heat, the nice weather-buffer was none other than his robe of the fire-rat. She gasped, the kariginu slid further down her shoulders, head shooting up to meet his. "Bu-but, what about you?" she found herself stupidly asking. His response made her feel even dumber, as she had heard it so many times before.

"Feh! My body is made better than your puny human one!"

Instead of taking that silently as she usually did, she quipped with a, "You know, you're part human, Inuyasha. You're part 'puny' too."

His smug smirk transformed into a gaping hole in his face, incoherent babbling slipping past his leaden tongue. Kagome stood, having stolen his arrogant grin, and wrapped the suikan around her tighter. She trudged up the hill, before missing her step as Inuyasha called out to her.

"Hey Kagome…" she swiveled on a sneakered heel, and saw that he still faced the forest, cross-legged and hands on his fist as if meditating. He curved his body around to look up at her, eyes as concerned as the pucker of his lips. "Are you, are you really ok now?"

Her face crumpled before she was able to regain composure, she swiped at her eyes before any more tears could fall – it had been enough for one night. "Yes...yes, Inuyasha, I think I'm fine now."

"Then can I ask you something?"

She was afraid her voice might betray her again, so she nodded, hand cupping her wrist.

"Where…where did it hurt?"

Her mouth dropped as she let out a little, "Oh," then, sadly, she placed a hand over her left chest.

Shifting away, he nodded at the ground, lips a calculating rumple. "It's 'cause of me, wasn't it?"

A flash of an image, seen through bushes, of a red-clad boy holding and caressing a magical woman seared Kagome's mind's eye. A sickening hot prickling stabbed at the backs of her eyes. The forest clearing was misty with soul collectors, a haze that shrouded the two ill-fated lovers from the rest of the world – to be frozen in a time only theirs. And to be witnessed by a third party already in love with that fighting, reckless, idiotic boy.

She nodded again. And tried turning away but something stopped her. The grip of an arm braced tightly to hers, claws digging tiny needle pricks into her forearm, even through the cloth of her uniform.

"I-Inuyasha?"

He jerked his arm, yanking hers, and suddenly she was forced against him, each line of her body compressed to his. Inuyasha's grip remained steadfast on her arm, twisting it at an odd angle, but all thought of the dull pain was wiped clean from her mind as his other hand swept through the tangled mess of her hair and pressed her head to his chest. A steady rhythm beat out within his ribcage, as strong and sturdy as his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, Kagome – please don't leave."

Her face registered uncomprehending quizzicality. "Leaving, but – wait, what do you mean?"

"I told you to go, but please don't. I know I've hurt you, I know I've hurt you real bad a lot. But I promise…if you stay, I promise, I can protect you. Even if it's from myself. So just…please don't go."

Kagome was confused, but she decided to pray upon this uncharacteristically open Inuyasha. "What if I don't stay, what then?"

He stiffened his hold around her, and she almost regretted toying with him. Then his arms clutched her in a near stranglehold and he ground out huskily in her ear, "Then I'd just chase you down and bring you back."

"Even if it's against my will?" she intoned, winded by his hold and by the throw of how the situation panned out. _Give it time_, the words echoed in her mind.

"I don't care if it's against the gods' will themselves, I need you here, Kagome – can't you see that?" his voice was darker, edgier now than before, and Kagome felt herself being lost in the whirl of feelings she felt at listening to his resounding voice. "Uh, besides…" he shrugged backwards, releasing her and hiding his face from her. His arm came up with a billowed sleeve and he scratched his neck and jaw. "Uh, uh – Shippo! Yes, him, uh…that little runt would need ya. And stuff. Yeah, stuff. So, you can't go."

Kagome gawked dubiously, then composing her features; she couldn't help the laughter that went with her exhale. The laugh turned to soft chuckles that led into her entire body being seized by mad giggles. She clutched her stomach and fell down to her knees, moist dew from the grass soaking into her knees and staining them a gross green. She was completely taken under by her laughter, drowning under the pain of cramps and of contracted muscles. Inuyasha stomped before her, heedless of what to do, and asking her things she couldn't hear over the roar of her laughter. He kept yelping her name, feet pounding uselessly into the ground to no avail.

He had ruined such a perfectly romantic moment – and it was so like him, she couldn't help but laugh, and laugh and laugh and laugh. _Just a little time, that's all he needs_. Miroku's words rang in her mind even as her laughter died down and Inuyasha's complaints and chides were ignored.

_I think you're right, Miroku. With a little time, I think I can handle him – and then we can both go a day without heartache and misery. Even if it takes a hundred years, I think I can wait for him. No, I can wait for you – Inuyasha!_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I like ending it on this note, it seems very Anime-centric Kagome-styled ending that Takahashi-sama would have. **

**Oh yes, and may I just say – I LOVE BIG BROTHER MIROKU! Er, I mean big brother**_**ly**_** Miroku. I love him lots~**

**Translators Notes: I'm sure there were a few words some of you might not understand, so here I am to swoop in and rescue you damsels of unlearned Japanese old-tongue things and stuff. (Wait, what?)**

**Geta: they are Japanese shoes, the blocky wooden ones that Miroku – among MANY others wears. If you google-image it, you'll know what I'm talking about.**

**Shakujou: it is the "Pilgrim Staff" that is Miroku's walking stick and weapon.**

**Sake: it's meant to have an accent mark over the 'e' but whatever – as most should/do know, it's a Japanese liquor, a "rice wine"**

**Kitsune: Fox demon**

**Youkai: full demon**

**Hanyou: half demon**

**Taijiya: Demon-slayer (a.k.a. Sango's title)**

**Miko: priestess**

**Kariginu/Suikan: Both mean "hunting garment" and in Japanese history were worn by shogun's and samurai's during the time period Inuyasha is in, Sengoku Warring States. In other words, it's just my eloquent/dick way of saying, "robe"**

**Anyway, please please pleaseeee review! Any comment is a good comment! Well…yeah, whatever – I take what I can get. Thanks for reading this :D**


	2. BONUS CHAPTER

There had been dividing lines set up in the camp, ever since Miroku had mistakenly tried reaching for Sango, only to incur the demonic wrath of a one ill-groped Kagome. So there she was, wrapped tightly in the robe of the fire rat, Inuyasha's kariginu, and snuggling it closer to her suddenly not-so chilled frame as she made her way back up the hill. She left Inuyasha to brood at the bottom of the second hill, last seeing him enter the forest dazedly. She bit her lip.

_Maybe he sensed Kikyo, or something, and went to go – no. No, this isn't like that time. I couldn't feel her, and besides there were no soul collectors. _

Kagome steeled herself and trudged to her sleeping bag. She nestled into the slippery feel of polyester and pillowed her head against her bent arm. Just as sleep was about to subdue her, a voice snapped her eyes open and focused her attention.

"So, did it go well?"

Kagome let her eyes shut, a coy smile taking over her lips. She let her upper lip envelope the lower, pulling it back with her teeth.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sango."

"Oh come on, Kagome-chan," she heard the rustle of cloth and sifting grass. "…tell me, did it work?"

"What, being angry and fighting back? Why Sango, I have to tell you…" Kagome's voice lilted with the voice of chagrin, causing the taijiya to gain a quizzical demeanor. And then the pearly whiteness of a grin peeked through the night. Then came the squeals and peals of hushed laughter again. "You're _brilliant_! As soon as I got angry and fought back, he just – oh he caved, he caved big time!"

Sango propped herself up on her forearm, smothering her laughter as both she and Kagome kicked their feet in rapid unison. "Ok ok ok, you've _got_ to tell me – everything. What exactly did you say to him?"

"_Weeeeell_," she looked off sheepishly, then the sly look of conspiring stole her features. "I said that…I hated him."

Sango rocked back, in pure delight. "Oh you did not!"

"I did!" Kagome persisted, nodding her head as she clamped both hands across her mouth. Her eyes creased in utter bemusement.

Sango rolled around, meeting Kagome at her sleeping spot, and together they clasped hands and started silently cramping their muscles with fits of giggles.

"I _told_ you, I _told_ you!" she exclaimed. "This tactic has always worked when Miroku was…was being himself. If he got too close to some of the women in town, boom! He would get the cold shoulder!"

"Oh, your shoulder is a terrible one, Sango-chan," Kagome nodded sagely, frowning in thought. "The effects I've seen it have on him," she shook her head. "I'm surprised he hasn't gotten frostbite!"

"Yeah well, _you_," Sango poked Kagome in the chest pointedly, staring up at her. "I'm surprised Inuyasha hasn't died in the flames of hell – your fury, it hath none."

The girls continued their jabber and squeals into the moon was well past its zenith and soon the two found themselves exhausted with gossip and girl chat and slept peaceably beside one another.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Feh…women. I don't understand them – one minute, Kagome is cryin' her eyes out, then the next she's laughing like a witch! I just don't get them. They're worse than demons. It'd probably benefit the world if I exterminated them along with all the youkai in my way. _Inuyasha grumbled and griped as he found the path back to camp from the woods by his nose.

He sniffed the air, a potent and familiar smell as he passed by the second hill's landing. The hanyou stood in the same place he had earlier that evening, when the moon had just began its cycle across the sky. Now dusk colors swept across it like a painter's brush. To Inuyasha, though, it only looked like some girly design in a concubine's quarters. He pouted his lower lip and crushed his brows into one guilelessly. Not that he'd ever been to a brothel. Nope, not the virtuous half-demon. Inuyasha sniggered at the last thought and made his trek back up the slope. The smell of foreign herbs, like the kind that Kagome had used in her bathing square – the '_ko-ko-nut'_ scent – filled his nostrils as he plowed up the hill. Finally, he saw where his spot was and stalked over to it. Flopping into it, he crossed his legs and cradled his cheek against the scabbard of the Tetsusaiga, the coolness a welcome touch. He slumped and let his eyes drift closed.

"So,"

Yep, he knew it was just too good to fall asleep tonight, just too good.

"Have you reconciled with Kagome-sama?"

Inuyasha's brow twitched, mouth twirking. "Yeah and what's it to you, monk?"

Miroku shifted in his spot, turning to the side that faced his half-demon friend. Shippo lay curled in the cold spot Miroku now left him in. The pilgrim frowned. "That wasn't very nice. I have a name you know."

Inuyasha let air escape his lips sardonically. "So? Besides, you let Sango call you that."

"Yes, well," he looked at his nails, this way and that, a contemplative frown upon his lips as he dryly sniffed. "She's a different case."

"Feh, aren't they all."

Miroku narrowed his eyes. "Just tell me, have you or have you not made up with Kagome?"

Inuyasha scratched himself behind the ear, looking off in petulant disregard. He thought about what transpired that evening. She had seemed…okay – especially after he had given her his jacket. "Uh…yeah, I guess. I think so? Whatever, what the hell does it matter."

Miroku smirked congenially. "So…did you do what I said to do?"

"You mean from a few days ago?" Inuyasha turned his stare to look at his traveling companion, gaining a wink and waggled brows in return. A very disconcerting sight with the way the monk was laying, head propped up by a fist bent at the elbow, body elongated. "Yeah, yeah," the hanyou waved the lecher away, turning his head away with a disgusted cringe. "I gave her my stupid shirt."

Miroku shot him a questioning glance, taking in the fact that Inuyasha still wore his stiff white kosode. Inuyasha growled and shook his head.

"Not this one, the robe one!"

An image seemed to pass through the hanyou's mind and a fiery tinge of color ran rampant across his cheeks. Miroku's head did a revolving motion, ending in the mocking playfulness of brothers, the look of a knowing smirk.

"Inuyasha, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were flustered." The monk's voice lilted condescendingly. It grated on Inuyasha's nerves, but true to the pervert's words, he was too busy being flustered.

"Wh-what? I, I, uh – no! I'm not, why would you…no!" Inuyasha flipped over on the ground, laying flat on his back and away from the confusing monk. "Shut up and go to sleep!"

Miroku hmphed, self-satisfied, dropping his back so it lay flat on the ground. He stared up at the moon and smiled as his eyes closed of their own accord. A gentle breeze tousled his hair.

_Like fine sake, he just needs a little time._ Miroku let out a long string of air, placing one hand above the other over his chest. _You're welcome, Kagome._


End file.
